Platt b



' (No Model.)

P. BU V IELE.

SAND DISTRIBUTER 30R LOCOMOTIVES. No. 258,828. Patented May 30; 1882.

N. PEIEHS, PhelbLflhognpiel, Wanhingion. D4 C.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PLATT B. VIELE, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

SAND-DISTRIBUTER FOR LOCOMOTIVES. I

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No'. 258,828, dated May 30,1882.

Application filed October 11,1881. (No model.)

To all whom at may concern:

Be it known that I, PLATT B. VIELE, of Rochester, Monroe county, New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Sand-Distributers for Locomotives; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an elevation showing my improvement. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the lower end of the combined sand-tube and injector enlarged.

My improvement relates to apparatus for spreading sand upon railroad-tracks in front of the drive-wheels to prevent slipping. The ordinary device is a sand-box on top of the boiler and a' tube leading down therefrom near to the rails where the sand is dropped. The tube has also been led down to the tread of the driving-wheel, and a jet of steam has been made to impinge thereon for the purpose of moistening the sand and making it adhere.

My invention consists of a combined sandtube and steam or air injector, having at the bottom a valve which shuts off the sand, except when it is thrown open by the action of thejet through the injector, at which time the sand is allowed to flow and is blown by the injector directly beneath the wheel and upon the rail.

In the drawings, A represents the rail, and

B the driving-wheel, which are of usual construction.

0 represents the sand-box mounted on the boiler in the ordinary way, and D is the sandtube extending down to the rail. 7 The lower end of this tube is curved and contracted, forming a nozzle, a, which rests in the angle between the rail and. the wheel and as close as possible to both.

E is a steam-pipe leading from the boiler, or an air-pipe leading from a compressing-chamber and having an injector, b, which enters the back side of the sand-tube at the bottom and points downward and forward in the direction of the nozzle at the end of the sandtube. It will be seen that as the sand falls in the tube it will be forced and driven forward by the jet of steam or compressed air, and will be ejected through the nozzle in a fine stream, and directly between the wheel and the rail. The wheel will therefore much more readily catch it than where thesand is dropped in advance of the wheel or where it is deposited upon the wheel at a distance above the rail. The fine stream of sand is deposited centrally of the width of the rail, and the wheel seizes it so quickly that scarcely any loss of sand occurs, and therefore there is a great saving of sand with increased traction from its use.

dis a swinging valve in the sand-tube, pivoted at f so as to swing freely. In its natural position the lower end rests upon the bottom and closes'the passage, while the upper end, which is concentric with the pivot, closes a passage, 9, above the valve through which the sand-falls.

h is an abutment in the sand-tube above and back of the valve, and beneath which the valve turns when swung back.

The operation is as follows: When the steam or compressed air is let on through the injector the force of the jet will throw the bottom of the valve forward and the top back, thereby allowing the sand to fall through and be driven out through the nozzle. When the steam or air is'shut oi the valve falls of its own weight, or by means of a small spring connected therewith, and such sand as falls into the tube from the sand-box will be retained and saved. Any other form of valve which will be automatically operated by the steam or air jet may be employed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

j The combination, with the sand-tube D and injector b, of the-valve d, arranged to be operated upon by the jet from the injector to open the valve and to close of its own action when thejet is shut ofi", as herein shown and described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name'in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PLA'IT B. vinnn.

Witnesses: It. I Oseoon,

E. P. FOLLETT. 

